President-elect Donald Trump disclosed the plans on New Year’s Eve.
President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 31 said he plans to attend the funeral of late President Jimmy Carter.
“I'll be there. We were invited,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Carter
died at age 100 on Dec. 29. The Georgia native was the president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
Carter’s funeral is
scheduled to begin on Jan. 4, starting in Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia. A series of events will culminate with his burial in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, five days later.
Trump has regularly been critical of the actions Carter took while in office but offered a tribute to the late Democrat following his death.
“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” Trump
wrote on his social media website Truth Social.
Trump said that Carter was part of an exclusive group of people who have been president and that only those people “can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History.”
He also said that he and former First Lady Melania Trump are thinking warmly of the Carter family and their loved ones.
“We urge everyone to keep them in their hearts and prayers,” he said.
In another social media
post, Trump wrote: “While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for. He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect. He was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed.”
Carter after leaving office became involved in various humanitarian efforts, including Habitat for Humanity, to help people around the world.
Carter was “very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office,” Trump said.
President Joe Biden was among the others praising Carter. In a Dec. 29 joint
statement with First Lady Jill Biden, he described Carter as “an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian” who “saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.”
Carter’s wife of nearly 80 years, Rosalynn Carter, passed away in 2023.
The couple had four children: John William Carter, James Earl Carter III, Donnel Jeffrey Carter, and Amy Lynn Carter. They also had 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
